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When you try to unravel something you've written, you belittle it in a way. It was created as a mystery.
Don Delillo
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Overanalyzing your writing can diminish its artistic value and the mystery it holds.

This quote by Don Delillo highlights the tension between creation and analysis in the realm of writing. When a writer dissects their own work too thoroughly, they risk reducing the intrigue and emotional depth that originally made it captivating, as each piece of art is often layered with meaning that does not need to be fully understood to be appreciated.

Themes

WritingMysteryArtAnalysisCreativity

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used during a writing workshop to encourage participants to embrace the mystery of their creative work.

More from Don Delillo

The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
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War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
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American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
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For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
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I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
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[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. 
He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. 
This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
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